Being With You
by fallen pheniox
Summary: Mondo and Rockna are on another quest, but this time, they're trapped in another world and can't escape unless they defeat the evil forces that are destorying Mon world! Together they might stand a chance, what new feelings and adventure will they find?
1. The Chosen Ones

Hey everyone! This is my first attempt at a Mon Colle Knights fic, so I hope it meets all your expectations. I do not own anything you may recognize though I seriously wished I did. They're so kawaii! Mondo and Rockna are 16 years old right now and are both attending high school. Well, enjoy!

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Chapter one: The Chosen Ones 

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Mondo was walking down the hallways to his locker with two of his friends, Joey and Peter.

"Come on Mondo, don't tell us you don't have a hard time trying to handle her temper?" laughed Peter.

Mondo shrugged as if it was no big deal and quickly turned the corner to his locker. "Hey, you guys want to play a game of basketball? We could invite Eric and Andrew to play as well," suggested Mondo, since he didn't want to start on his homework yet.

"Sure, as long as Kyle's on my team," smiled Joey, knowing just how well Kyle played. Mondo was one of the best, but knowing him, he'd rather be with the loser's team.

"Fine by me. It's not like I was planning to team up with him anyways," Mondo shrugged.

"Hey, I want Katie on my team then," smiled Peter with a sly smile on his face as Joey rolled his eyes. Both Mondo and Joey knew that Peter had a major crush on Katie.

"Yeah, sure," said Mondo as he got his things from his locker and quickly locked it.

"Hey, aren't you going to invite your girlfriend?" asked Joey slyly.

"SHE'S NOT MY GIRLFRIEND!!!" yelled Mondo angrily.

"Cool it, we know she isn't. She's only your dream girlfriend," Peter laughed.

"Whatever," said Mondo while rolling his eyes.

They quickly found their other friends and met at the basketball court, not knowing that Mondo wouldn't have time to play a game anyways.

"Pass it over here Peter!" yelled Mondo as he ran toward the hoop. Peter quickly passed it to him and he scored another goal for the team.

"All right Mondo!" yelled Katie cheerfully. She always had team spirit on her side. Just then, a large vacuum looking thing sucked Mondo up into the sky.

"What is with that guy? Every time we're in the middle of something, he just disappears," sighed Joey.

Mondo looked around the base where the professor was and found Rockna on the couch watching T.V.

"Rockna? Why are we here? I mean why was I sent back here? Is there a monster item call or something?" asked Mondo in confusion.

"What do you mean Mondo? There wasn't even a monster alert," said Rockna as she turned off the television.

"Let's go check anyways. I got here, might as well go right? Hey, where's the professor?" asked Mondo.

"I think he's in the lab trying to create something. Why don't we just go without him this time?" asked Rockna as Mondo nodded his head in agreement. 

They didn't even need to go onto the ship to get to Mon world. The professor had created a new way of entering, with the help of Beginner. Both Mondo and Rockna had a necklace that automatically transported them to Mon world, and all they had to do was think about where they wanted to go and they would be there.

In no time, they were back in the Mon world, where they hadn't visited in at least 4 years, and things had changed.

"What happened here?" asked Rockna in shock.

"I don't know Rockna, but it isn't good," said Mondo as he looked around the forest, or at least what was left of it. There was not a single tree with leaves left and everything building was burnt to the ground. How could this have happened?

"Let's go check it out," said Mondo as he started to run further into the bare forest. Rockna followed behind him, when all of a sudden there was a little whisper that caught Rockna's ears.

"Mondo! Wait! I hear something," said Rockna as she ran over to a fallen house and slowly dug away the bits and pieces of rocks and finally found a body.

"What is it Rockna?" asked Mondo as he reached her and saw the body. "Here, let me help," said Mondo as he helped pulled the body out. It was a girl.

"Thank you, I was in there for weeks now, and no one has come," said the girl. She had long blond hair and sapphire blue eyes and was about the same height as Rockna. She was scratched up and her white dress was slightly torn. There was a cut on her right arm that was wrapped up in a bandage, but the blood was bleeding through.

"It's O.K. What happened?" asked Rockna in concern.

"A new dark force has taken over Mon World. We'll never be able to live in peace again. Please, help us," pleaded the girl.

"We will, but what's you name?" asked Mondo.

"My name is Natalie. I rule over and protect the living beings of this village and forest, but then one day these horrible creatures appeared, and I couldn't do anything to stop them," said Natalie as she started to cry.

"That's alright, we'll help you and bring back all your people," said Rockna trying to calm Natalie down.

"Thank you, but I don't think you're enough. What are your names?" asked Natalie.

"My name is Rockna and this is Mondo," smiled Rockna.

"Mondo and Rockna? The Mon Colle Knights? The chosen ones?" asked Natalie in shock and gratitude.

"Well, I don't know about chosen ones, but we use to be the Mon Colle Knights," smiled Mondo. _Wow, she's beautiful,_ thought Mondo silently.

"Please, save our world then," pleaded Natalie.

"But why are we the chosen ones?" asked Rockna in confusion.

"Long ago, there was a legend about how the Mon World would come to a mass destruction once everything was at peace. And only the chosen ones could rescue this world," Natalie tried to explain.

"But how are you so sure that we're the chosen ones?" asked Mondo.

"Because in the legend was a description of the chosen ones. It said, 'One with flaming fiery hair and with red eyes that anger blare. The other with beauty that none can compare and with the eyes that makes things fair,'" answered Natalie.

"I guess that's us Mondo," smiled Rockna. 

"I guess so. Well, where should we start?" asked Mondo.

"Please, let me accompany you. The dark forces live up in the hidden valley that no one has ever been, and I know where it is. I can lead you there," said Natalie.

"Alright then," smiled Mondo.

"Wait Mondo, let's go back to our world first. We can pack up some things we might need," said Rockna.

"Good idea Rockna. You can go, I'll wait here for you," said Mondo as Rockna glared at him. 

"Mondo, you lazy pig! Let's go!" yelled Rockna. Giving up, Mondo walked over to Rockna's side. Rockna quickly took out her sapphire blue pedant that was connected to a gold chain and held onto it and closed her eyes.

Mondo took out his dark red pendant that was connected to a gold chain and held it between his hands with his eyes closed. "The Earth!" yelled Mondo and Rockna as the same time as a bright green light hit them, but then it disappeared.

"What happened Mondo? Why didn't it work?" asked Rockna.

"I don't know, let's try again," said Mondo as Rockna nodded and they tried again. But nothing happened.

"Maybe it's the dark forces. I'm afraid you won't be able to return to your world until this is all over. I'm sorry," said Natalie as she wiped away a tear that had fallen from her eyes.

"That's alright, really. We'd love to help anyways," said Mondo softly as he wrapped his arms around Natalie.

"That's right," smiled Rockna in agreement as she walked over to them. Slowly, Natalie nodded and they started traveling toward the North, where the hidden valley was. On the way, Natalie started filling them in with the details.

"There are loyal servants that make up part of the dark forces. The leader of the dark forces is Chow-Bing. He's got unimaginable power. He's also a dragon. His followers are the dark dubs. And his loyal servants are the shadow-demons. The shadow-demons each rule part of the Mon world to make sire everything is in order, so beware of your surroundings. They're everywhere," Natalie warned.

"But what about the Dubs? What do they do?" asked Rockna.

"They do as the shadow-demons tell them to do and serve under Chow-Bing. They fight the war and torture those with hope, but they are nothing compared to the Shadow-Demons. The Shadow-Demons have the ability to read minds and manipulate all those that go before them, taking any shape it wants to," said Natalie as a shiver went down her spine.

"This sounds really dangerous, are you sure you're ready for this then Rockna?" asked Mondo.

Rockna gulped, "I'm not afraid Mondo. I can stand up to them and fight. Besides, we could always ask our friends in this world to help us," answered Rockna nervously.

"If they aren't already captured," said Mondo sadly. "Hey, Natalie. What are the dark forces weaknesses?" asked Mondo suddenly.

"Weaknesses? Uh… I don't know their weakness. As far as all of Mon World knows, they have no weaknesses," answered Natalie. Suddenly, Mondo felt something or someone.

"I think someone's following us. I think it's been following us for a while now," whispered Mondo to Rockna as Rockna nodded and turned around to see who it was, but no one was there.

"Mondo, are you sure?" asked Rockna.

"I was, but I'm not so sure now," said Mondo.

"What is it?" asked Natalie.

"I felt something, but then it was gone," answered Mondo.

"It's here," said Natalie all of a sudden as her eyes glowed red and she started to float upwards. "I can… I can feel it's presents. It's all… it's all happening again. No… no… NOOOOOO!!!" Natalie screamed in agony. Sudden, a chain was tied to one arm and then the other.

"NATATLIE!" yelled Mondo as he tried to jump up and reach her, but it didn't work. She just started to float higher and higher up into the sky. The last words they could hear before she disappeared from sight was, "Save Mon World, PLEASE!"

"We couldn't save her," said Mondo sadly, knowing his failure.

"Mondo, don't think like that. We'll get her back," Rockna tried reassuring him.

"How can we save Mon world if we can't even protect one girl?" asked Mondo.

"We will, trust me Mondo," said Rockna as she gave him a kiss on the cheek. 

"You're right Rockna, we will," smiled Mondo as Rockna smiled at him.

"You won't be doing that very soon," said a sudden voice. Soon there were shadows flying everywhere and they were surrounded.

"Mondo, what do we do now?" asked Rockna.

"We'll fight our way out of this. We have to," said Mondo angrily as jumped into the air and was about to knock one of the shadow-demons out, when suddenly he stopped in his tracks and he couldn't move.

"What's happening?" asked Mondo to no one in particular. He felt a hold around his neck that was trying to choke him to death as his necklace was ripped from his neck.

Suddenly, Mondo caught a sign by the Shadow-Demon's neck. There was a line there, as if it had been injured once. _It's worth a try, _thought Mondo silently as pulled out his newly improved stick that he brought with him everywhere he went.

"NO! You're not going to get that chance!" yelled the Shadow-Demon as he dropped Mondo from mid air and charged up to him. But Mondo used his sharp stick and cut right into the shadow demon's neck. 

"AHHH!" screamed the shadow demon as it turned into dark fumes and disappeared. All that was left of it, was it's black cloak.

"Rockna! Hit their necks! It's the only way!" yelled Mondo as he continued to fight. Rockna nodded and took out her newly improved Rockna's ribbon. 

"TAKE THIS!" yelled Rockna as she hit all the shadow demons around her with one swipe of her ribbon. When the battle was over, Mondo fell onto his knees.

"Great job Rockna," he said with a sigh of relief.

"Thanks Mondo," smiled Rockna, when she realized that Mondo was cut on the arm. "Here," she said softly as she tied a pick piece of handkerchief around his arm. Mondo blushed slightly.

"Oh, thanks Rockna," he tried to smile.

"We should keep going Mondo, the sooner we get to the Hidden Valleys, the sooner we can save Mon world," said Rockna.

"Wait a second, I need to find my necklace," said Mondo as he looked around the ground and spotted his necklace. The gold chain had snapped, so Mondo decided to place it into the hole in his stick handle instead. It seemed to be shaped for the pendant anyways. But as soon as he placed it in, his stick began to glow red.

"What's going on Mondo?" asked Rockna while shielding her eyes from the blinding light.

"I don't know," Mondo managed as he covered his eyes with one arm and held onto his stick with the other. Slowly, he felt his stick turn into something else.

Finally the light disappeared and everything was back to normal. Except, that the stick that use to be in Mondo's hand, was now a gleaming silver sword. The handle was green with a simple of the wind and fire dragon on it. They were circling each other in the now round and flat pendant. And on the other side was the same thing, except it was a water and thunder dragon circling each other.

"Rockna, this is awesome!" smiled Mondo in awe as he admired his new sword.

"But how did that happen?" asked Rockna.

"I don't know, but what ever it is, it's awesome. Come on, let's go north," smiled Mondo proudly as he strapped his sword onto his back and started walking with Rockna by his side. Soon it was getting dark and they still hadn't reached the next realm yet.

"Mondo, I'm getting tired, why don't we camp out for the night?" suggested Rockna.

"O.K. Rockna, but I'm getting really hungry. What about this? You set up the fire and I'll try to find some food of some sort," said Mondo.

"O.K." smiled Rockna in agreement as she started looking for firewood.

Mondo looked around the darkness for a while as he took out his sword. There were a few trees around this area, but it still didn't make a forest.

"Man, I wish there was some light here," whispered Mondo to no one in particular. Suddenly, the blade of his sword went on fire. At first he was freaked out but then he realized it was actually helping him.

"O.K. Now I'll just have to find some food and I'll be home free," smiled Mondo as he looked around.

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"There we go! That should be enough firewood. But ho am I going to start a fire," wondered Rockna as she placed the firewood down.

Slowly she picked up two sticks and started rubbing them together. _I hope Mondo comes back with the food soon. I'm getting hungry, _thought Rockna as she shivered slightly because of the cold.

Suddenly, Mondo appeared. "Hey Rockna, I found some fish," he smiled. Rockna was so hungry she didn't even remember that there wasn't any water around and there was no way Mondo could've found fish. Not to mention, Mondo wasn't that great of a fisher.

"Oh Mondo, you're awesome," smiled Rockna. "But I still need to get the fire going," said Rockna.

"Don't worry, let me help you," smiled Mondo as he walked over to her and put down the fishes. He took her hands between his and started rubbing the sticks together so fast that a fire started going.

"Rockna, there's something I need to tell you," started Mondo.

"What is it Mondo?" asked Rockna. _Maybe he's finally going to like me for me, instead of going with some other girls, _thought Rockna hopefully.

Suddenly Mondo leaned down and kissed her. Rockna was slightly surprised at first, but she slowly melted into it. His arms wrapped around her waist as she wrapped her arms around his neck. A slight chill went down Rockna's back, when suddenly, she heard Mondo's voice.

"ROCKNA!" he yelled.

"Huh?" said Rockna as she parted from Mondo and looked up at the other Mondo that was standing there, glaring at the Mondo that was next to her.

"Mondo?" thought Rockna out loud as she looked from Mondo to Mondo. 

"Get away from him Rockna. He's a Shadow Demon," said Mondo angrily as Rockna got up and stared at the Mondo that was getting up as well. Slowly he grew taller and a black cloak covered him completely. 

"Wait," he whispered softly as he lowered his hood. He looked human. He had dark brown hair and dark blue eyes. "My name is Michael, and I serve Chow-Bing. Rockna, come with me. I can make you strong and you can be at my side when the big battle comes," he said softly while starring at Rockna.

"Michael?" whispered Rockna in shock.

"Rockna! Get away from him. He's a Shadow Demon and he'll manipulate you. He's too dangerous," yelled Mondo angrily as he raised his sword in front of him. Michael stared at Rockna with soft and gentle eyes.

"Rockna, I won't force you. But when I first saw you, I knew I wanted you more than anything. I'd do anything for you, because I knew I loved you at the first moment I saw you. Please," whispered Michael. Those sweet stinging words slowly drifted into Rockna's ears and suddenly her eyes glowed red.

"I will go with you," she whispered. Michael smiled and put his hood back on. "Let's go then Rockna. The great lord Chow-Bing, expects your arrival very soon," Michael smirked as he took Rockna's hand and turned around, about to leave.

"No you don't!" yelled Mondo as he charged at Michael and knocked him down. "Rockna listens to no one but her own free will and heart Michael. So LEAVE HER ALONE!" yelled Mondo angrily as he tried to stab Michael's neck but Michael stopped him.

"Her weakness is love Mondo, and there's nothing you can do about it. You can not interfere," said Michael as he rolled over, and got back up.

Mondo quickly jumped back up, "NO! She's her own free will. She doesn't have to listen to you. Now give her back to me!" yelled Mondo as he tried again at Michael's neck.

"So now she's yours, is she?" asked Michael tauntingly as he dodged Mondo's attack.

"She's my friend and the only one for me. No matter what you try to do, I will always love her. Even if she doesn't know it!" yelled Mondo as one tear left his eyes.

"Great work, you were so close to making me vomit," said Michael as he rolled his eyes.

"And you stole a kiss from her, that was never supposed to be given to you!" yelled Mondo in outrage. "And for that, you will pay! Fire-sword attack!" yelled Mondo as he tried to slash into Michael's neck. But he missed. But then a beam of fire shot into Michael's neck and he started to scream in pain.

"This is not the end Mondo! She will never return to-" started Michael but he had already vanished and the only thing left of him was his black cloak. Mondo dropped to his knees, that attack seemed to have drawn all his energy from him. He slowly dragged himself toward Rockna, whom was just lying on the ground as if she was lifeless. Her eyes had lost its sparkle.

"Rockna, are you all right?" asked Mondo tiredly as he shook her slightly. But Rockna didn't answer him; she just laid still.

"Rockna?" asked Mondo as he grew in concern.

"…" Rockna didn't say anything again, she didn't even move.

"ROCKNA!" yelled Mondo as he grabbed her into his arms and dropped his sword onto the ground. "Wake up Rockna, you have to," whispered Mondo into her ears. But it was like she didn't even hear a word that came out of his mouth. "Please," whispered Mondo as another tear fell from his eyes, slowly landing onto her necklace.

Suddenly, there was a flash of blue light from Rockna's necklace and the necklace floated up into the air. It glowed a light blue and shone onto Rockna. And then it went back to normal and fell onto the ground.

"Rockna, wake up," Mondo tried once more. 

"Mondo? What happened?" asked Rockna in confusion and tiredly. She then noticed the tear streams that were on his face, "What's wrong?" she asked.

"Nothing Rockna, nothing," Mondo smiled weakly as he let go of her and picked up his sword and her necklace. "Here Rockna," he said gently as he gave her, her necklace.

"Thanks Mondo," smiled Rockna as she placed her necklace around her neck once again. 

"Your welcome," said Mondo as he turned around and grabbed the food that he had found earlier from the ground and stuck it onto a few sticks and put it by the fire. 

"I couldn't really find anything, but I did find these, carrots and potatoes. If we had a pot, we could make soup, but since we don't, we'll just do this O.K.?" asked Mondo.

"Sure," smiled Rockna. "But what happened to the fishes you found?" asked Rockna. 

"I didn't find any Rockna. You fell asleep so I decided to keep quite for a well. Maybe you dreamt it," Mondo lied. The fishes had disappeared, so there wasn't any other way of explaining it without telling the truth. And he just didn't want her to remember what had happened; it wouldn't have done them any good anyways.

"Oh, I see. Mondo, is there any water around here?" asked Rockna.

"No, there isn't," answered Mondo, but then he noticed the water dragon symbol on his sword and then thought about the fire one. "But maybe I can get some," said Mondo as he concentrated on his sword and Rockna looked on in confusion.

"WATER-SWORD!" yelled Mondo. Just after he yelled that, he collapsed. "Sorry, Rockna. My energy seems a bit drained. I'll get you some water tomorrow, alright?" asked Mondo.

"Sure. Here, I'll make our dinner," smiled Rockna as she took out something from her pocket.

"What's that?" asked Mondo.

"It's salt. I needed it for science class and I guess I forgot to take it out. But oh well, it's for the best anyways," smiled Rockna as she sprinkled some salt onto the vegetables.

"You know what Rockna, just eat it yourself. I think I'd rather sleep right now," said Mondo drowsily as he fell asleep almost immediately.

"Good-night Mondo," smiled Rockna as she continued to cook.

The next morning Mondo was the first to wake up. "Ahhhhh, that was a good nights sleep. I'm just glad that everything turned out O.K.," whispered Mondo as he got up. The sun was shining brightly and the few trees around them seemed replenished.

Mondo did a quick stretch and then decided he should probably try to become stronger, and the only way to do that was to practice. So he took out his sword and put it in front of him.

"Water-sword!" said Mondo quietly so that he wouldn't wake up Rockna. Suddenly, the blade of his sword had water surrounding it. _This is awesome! _Thought Mondo in excitement as he put down his sword and tried another one.

"Wind," said Mondo. Nothing appeared around the sword, but he felt the power of the wind blowing through his hair. "Thunder," said Mondo and then the blade of his sword glowed yellow. _Awesome! _Thought Mondo happily.

"Mondo, what are you talking about?" asked Rockna sleepily, without opening her eyes. 

Mondo quickly strapped his sword back onto his back, "Nothing Rockna, nothing," he smiled as he walked out of the campsite and looked around. He looked around the trees to see if he could use anything to hold water, and finally he found it. He ripped a big tree leaf off a tree and then took out his sword. 

"Water," he whispered. "Water attack," whispered Mondo as a rush of water went onto the leaf. Slowly he put his sword back onto his back and picked up the leaf, hoping not to spill anything. The floor around it was soaking wet.

"Rockna, wake up," said Mondo when he got back to the campsite. "I've got water for you," he smiled. Rockna slowly got up and stared at Mondo.

"But there's not water around here, you said so yourself," said Rockna.

"Well, I've got my ways," Mondo smiled slyly as Rockna took the leaf and drank some of the water and gave the rest to Mondo.

"Thanks Mondo, now let's keep going," smiled Rockna.

"Yeah, sure," he smiled as he got up and they started heading toward north again.

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Hey everyone! Like I said above, it's my first Mon Colle Knight story, so I hope you all enjoyed it so far and please review. All reviews mean a lot to me because I like to know what others think of my fic. So please review. And thanks to those of you who bothered to read this fic. I truly hope it met all your expectations so far. Bye! ^-^

Fallen pheniox


	2. Watching Out For Her

Hey everyone, sorry about the extremely late update, but I've been really busy lately. I'm glad a lot of people reviewed my first Mon Colle Knights story though, and I was extremely thankful for those awesome suggestions I got, as well as the inspiring emails that have kept me on track instead of straying off. So here's the second chapter for you guys! Thanks everyone! And hope you enjoy!

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Last Time 

"But there's not water around here, you said so yourself," said Rockna.

"Well, I've got my ways," Mondo smiled slyly as Rockna took the leaf and drank some of the water and gave the rest to Mondo.

"Thanks Mondo, now let's keep going," smiled Rockna.

"Yeah, sure," he smiled as he got up and they started heading toward north again.

Chapter Two: Watching Out For Her 

Mondo and Rockna walked for what seemed like hours, yet they had not reached any signs of civilization, and Rockna was really beginning to tire out. Mondo had noticed this and began to pick up the pace, hoping that in doing so, they'd reach some place sooner and have a place to rest, but nothing seemed to be going to plan.

"Rockna, are you all right?" he asked as he continued walking, giving her a side-glance, with worry shinning from his eyes towards her.

Rockna tried to smile as she nodded back in response, though it turned out a little lop-sided and tired. 

"Ok, but if it gets too hard for you, you've got to tell me, promise?" he asked a bit persistently.

"Ok, Mondo," she answered as they continued on walking. 

A couple more hours seemed to have passed as they continued to walk; eventually even Mondo was beginning to tire out from all the walking. He had never walked so much in his entire life. He began to quicken the pace once again, thinking that the next city or place had to be close by now. Soon his quickened pace turned into a run and then a sprint, he needed to get to the next place soon, neither him nor Rockna would be able to hold out much longer, and all they could see around them was the desert sand. He could hear Rockna panting behind him, but he decided not to say anything, since she had promised him that if it were too much for her, she'd tell him. And he trusted her enough to not ask her about her condition again. Finally, he noticed a small village down the steep hill of sand, but at the bottom of the steep hill was a large region of quicksand. He'd have to find some sort of way to cross it, but before he'd even start thinking about that, he'd get to the bottom of that hill first. Mondo was about to take another step forward; ready to slide down the side of the hill when he suddenly noticed that Rockna's panting had stopped abruptly. Immediately Mondo turned around to see if Rockna was ok, but when he did, he noticed she wasn't even there anymore. Immediately scanning over the desert, Mondo tried to find where she had gotten, but he could not find her. 

"Rockna!" he yelled as he began to run back towards the direction he had just come from, but no matter how loud he was yelling, he could not hear Rockna's replies if there even were any.  His heartbeat began to quicken as he continued on running in search of her, hoping that nothing had happened to her.  "Rockna!" he yelled once more, and yet again, he received no reply. Soon he stopped running, there was no way she could've gone back this far when she was as tired as she was, perhaps she was still near the quicksand. Mondo began to run back yet again, his legs ached in pain, telling him to stop running and give himself a break, but he refused.  He had to find her, and until he did find her, he would not rest.  The professor would be very upset to ever have to find out that Rockna had gone missing under Mondo's supervision. 

Mondo ran and ran until he got back to the hill right above the quicksand below, and scanned the large desert once more, and still, he found no trace of her. Taking one big leap, he began to slide down the side of the hill of sand, slowly making his way down until he reached the bottom. Hoping that Rockna might have accidentally slipped and slide down on her own, but when he reached the bottom, he found no signs of her. "ROCKNA! WHERE ARE YOU?! ROCKNA!" he yelled again. Sweat began to heavily pour down the side of his face as his chest and shoulders heaved up and down in exhaustion, he still hadn't found her. _'Where is she…?'_ he thought as a million emotions ran over him, but the most extinguished one, was the one he felt of lost. Suddenly, an odd sensation filled his eyes and his nose, he hadn't felt this type of sensation for a long time. He could barely recognize what this feeling was, that's until one lone tear fell down from his eye and rolled down his tanned skin. Immediately, he wiped the tear away and took a deep breath. "I'll find you," he whispered, filled with determination. "I'll find you."

"The harder you try to find her, the more she will suffocate. She must mature on her own now, and so must you. The power of two isn't enough in the state you are in now, you've got to become stronger so that you can protect this world," came a sudden voice from out of nowhere. Mondo hadn't even taken notice of this, instead, he had responded to that automatically. "How can I protect this world when I can't even protect the closest friend next to me?" he whispered looking down at the quicksand before him. One more step and he would be trapped, he didn't dare take that step, not yet.

"You'll find her when the time is right, but for now, you can only watch over her," came the same deep voice.

"I don't even know where she is, how could I watch over her?" he asked, suddenly he realized he wasn't talking to himself, but there was another presence around him. He looked around him, but saw no one. 

"There is a way…" came a voice softly, and left his words to trail off.

Mondo looked up into the air, and saw a boy who looked about the age of 10, above him.  "Who are you kid?" he asked.

"Don't be fooled by appearances," laughed the boy lightly as he let himself drop to the ground, gently landing on the ground beneath him. "I've always been with you, you've just never noticed my existence till now."

"What are you talking about?" asked Mondo in confusion.

"You'll see soon enough, but for now, I want you to get across this quicksand and toward the village. Find a place to stay before night is dawned upon us, and then, I shall tell you a way in which you may be able to watch over her. It will be difficult…" the boy let his words trail off again.

Mondo did not question what the boy said, he decided that if there were some way to find Rockna, he'd take his chances and do as the boy said.  The boy did look harmless after all, but then again, he did say not to be fooled by appearances. 

_'Danger awaits ahead…'_ thought the boy silently as he took one step onto the quicksand.

"WAIT! DON'T-" Mondo was cut off when he noticed that the boy was simply walking on the quicksand. "What the-" he started in a mixture of shock and confusion. 

The boy simply smiled, "There's more to me than meets the eye.  Be careful with your first steps, this isn't any regular quicksand. It is only made to fool the human eye, you may walk over it, but if you take one wrong step… danger will appear."

Mondo gulped.  There was something about this boy that scared him.  There was such a mysterious background to the boy in which he knew nothing about, and yet the boy seemed to know something about him that even he didn't seem to know.  Not to mention, he didn't even act his age. And what was this "human" thing anyways?

Mondo stood still for quite some time, starring from the quicksand and back to the boy as if there was some sort of trick he was missing on, but he couldn't make any connections.  After a couple moments of silence and starring at the boy whom was standing on the quicksand, he decided that it could be safe. Mondo slowly took one step onto the quicksand… nothing happened. He breathed out a sigh of relief as he moved his second foot forward, but just as he did, his foot began to sink. The sand was slowly swallowing up his leg. _'Shit'_ he thought as he tried not to move, hoping the sand would not get to him any quicker. He looked up to see the boy's back facing him.

"You said I could walk over this," growled Mondo angrily as he continued to stand so still.

"Close your eyes," sighed the boy as if he was disappointed in Mondo.  Mondo could only glare at the boy's back, how could this _kid_ be disappointed in HIM? He didn't even DO anything, nor did he even know him.

"Just close your eyes," repeated the boy again, his back still facing Mondo.

"Why should I? You told me I could walk across this, and look! I'm sinking!" shouted Mondo.  He couldn't trust this boy, for all he knew he could be heading for yet another trap.

"You don't have anything else to lose.  If I'm trying to kill you or hurt you in any way, I'd only make it quicker for you than this quicksand." It was as if the boy was reading his mind.

Slowly, against his will, Mondo began to close his eyes. He could still feel his leg being pulled into the sand, but suddenly, his other leg began to become pulled in as well. His eyes snapped open.

"What's going on?!" he yelled.

"Calm down and just do as I say, I can help you if you just listen," argued the boy.  Mondo could hear the boy's tone become irritated, and that only frustrated him more.

Mondo yet again closed his eyes, this time he didn't care anymore about how weird this boy was, or how much he hated everything at the moment.  He breathed out a heavy sigh as the thought of Rockna came to mind.  He wouldn't be able to find her now, or protect her anymore.  There was no way he could when he was caught in a situation like this. He could've gone around this quicksand, but he had to listen to a complete stranger.  Hadn't he learned anything from the professor when he had told him never to talk or trust strangers when he was five years old? Now it was his fault he hadn't listened to the people he trusted.  He should've slowed down when he was running with Rockna. He shouldn't have listened to this boy.  He shouldn't have thought he could handle everything like this alone. 

"You're safe now…" came a sudden voice, which interrupted Mondo's thoughts. Slowly he began to open his eyes.  Everything was a bit blurry at first, but soon it became clear.  He noticed now that he was lying down on a hospital bed.

"What happened?" he asked in a weak voice.  He felt drained of energy, as if he was at the brink of life and death, but he didn't know why.

"You've been lying here for quite some time now.  You were in a coma.  We weren't sure if you'd ever wake up, but now that you have, everyone can't wait to see you," came another voice.

Mondo looked towards the voice and saw it was the professor.  "Professor?" he asked, he was still completely confused to what was going on.  He was sure he had fallen into the quicksand just a couple minutes ago.

"Yes Mondo?" asked the Professor.

"How did I get here? Wasn't I just in the middle of a desert?" asked Mondo.  He was completely sure he had been.

The Professor laughed, "Mondo, you and your imagination," came his carefree reply.  "Don't you remember?  You were hit by a car a couple months ago and young boy, who had seen the accident, reported this to the ambulance and saved your life."

Mondo looked skeptical.  How could this be true?  He was sure he had been in some desert somewhere, and he had no memories of being hit by a car. 

Suddenly the door slammed open and the next thing he knew, his shirt was getting wet.  Mondo looked down just to see the blue-headed girl crying into his clothes.

  "Rockna…?" he whispered softly as he gently laid one hand down on her head.  "What's wrong…?" 

The girl gave no reply. She simply continued to cry into his chest.  Mondo looked up to ask the Professor, but when he did, the Professor was no longer there.

_'That's odd, I hadn't heard any noise when the Professor left…'_ thought Mondo, but he shrugged it aside and turned his concentration back down to the girl before him. She too, was gone.  _'What's… what's going on here?'_ he thought silently.  Slowly pushing himself out of the comfortable bed, Mondo made his way to the door and peered outside.  The halls were completely empty and not one single noise was heard anywhere.  It was as if there was no one in the building at all.

"Hello? Is anybody here?" yelled Mondo through his coarse throat.  All he heard was his voice echoing through the halls, but no one had replied. 

Taking slow steps at a time, Mondo made his way down the hall and down the stairs till he reached the receptionist's desk, but no one was there. 

Not wanting to walk all the way up the stairs again, Mondo decided to take the elevator.  He clicked the button and waited for the door to allow him entrance.  Soon the light at the top beeped, showing him that his ride had finally arrived.  The door began to open and Mondo walked inside, but just as he did he fell. As fast as he could he gripped onto the side of the wall with one hand and looked down, there was a long way to go. Sweat began to pour down his face as he tried to bring his other hand over to hoist his body back up and out of the elevator shaft. This was all quite too weird to him.

Slowly his hand began to lose its grip to the wall, he had to find some way to get back up again and fast before he fell towards the bottom.

"Mondo?" came a soft delicate voice.  Mondo looked up to see Rockna's confused face.  "What are you doing?" she asked.

"I… um… I'm just hanging…" Mondo tried to joke in his serious position as he let out a hesitant laugh.

"Alright then Mondo… just don't hang too long, you might get tired," smiled Rockna as she turned to leave.

"ROCKNA!" yelled Mondo.  He couldn't believe she would just turn away like that.

"What is it Mondo?" she asked.

"Help me up will you?" he asked.

"Oh, is that all. Well, why didn't you say that earlier?" smiled Rockna as she bent down on her knees and lowered her hand towards him.  Mondo let out a relieved sigh as he grasped onto her hand, ready for her to hoist him up again, but she didn't. 

"Huh?" Mondo let out in confusion to why he hadn't been hoisted up yet.

"You weren't watching out for me…" came her suddenly mono-toned voice.

"What…?"

"You left me alone… you didn't come for me…" came her reply.

Mondo tried to look up to her eyes, but a dark shadow had been cast upon it. 

"Rockna, help me up," Mondo almost pleaded as he looked up to her, though unable to see her eyes.

Suddenly she let go of his hand and he was immediately sent plunging down the shaft.  His stomach was sent hurtling upwards, as if trying to find an escape through his mouth, but Mondo swallowed it.  He had to find some way to save himself. Suddenly, he felt his whole body abruptly stop, choking him a bit.  He had stopped falling, but why?  He looked around but could not see anything. It was too dark. Suddenly, he heard a ripping noise, and immediately knew what was holding him from crashing to his death for a couple more seconds.  His shirt was beginning to rip.

_'Come on brain. Think! Think! Think of a way out of this!'_ he thought almost desperately. In mere seconds he was to crash into the darkest part of the other world, there wasn't a moment to spare and yet his mind drew a blank. _'There HAS to be a way…'_ Now he truly was desperate, he could feel the tattered bit of clothing that barely clung on, begin to give way to his weight and gravity. 

Suddenly a light glow seemed to get his attention, the glow slowly brightening up with every second that past by.  He quickly looked down at his pocket and realized the glow was emerging from there.  He quickly reached into his pocket and realized there was a small pendent inside.  Holding it tightly in his grasp, he prayed that the pendent was what he thought it was.  Slowly opening his hand, he realized on one side was two dragons of two different elements, and on the other side there were two other dragons with two other elements. 

_'Yes!'_ he thought, there had to be a way to use this to help him escape from the situation he had found himself in.  There just had to be a way.  Taking the sphere close to his chest, he whispered to it, "WIND! Arise and push me up, back the opening of the elevator and let me land there!" 

He waited and waited, and slowly he felt the sphere slowly get warmer within his grasp, but soon the warmth faded and nothing happened. _'What?!'_ he thought. That was his only way to save his own life, and that chance just flew out the window!

"Come on…" he thought out loud as he clutched the small glowing sphere in his palm tighter.  "I just want to watch out for her… protect her… even if I have to do it the shadows, I won't mind… please…" he pleaded softly.  Then sighing lightly, not yet releasing the bit of hope he had left on this one plan, he decided to try again.

"Great element of wind… come forth and help me protect the people I care about…" he whispered gently.  Nothing happened, and finally the bit of clothing that had hung onto the side of the wall was complete torn away and he was yet again falling into the depths of darkness.  "Please…" 

His stomach was sent flying up to his throat and his whole body was left with a numb feeling, but none of that mattered.  He couldn't feel it anymore. He knew that if this was the end for him, then he had failed his duty as a student, person, and a friend.

A single tear found it's way into his eye, and slowly it was sent flying upwards as he continued to fall.  _'This is it…'_ he thought.  It was finally over, after everything he had gone through.  This would be the end to all the adventures.

Suddenly a bright light seemed to be shining just above his head, and he couldn't help but look up.  Was this light… an angel?  Had he already gone and not known it?  No… it was his tear… shinning so brightly in the darkness, it almost did look like a light from an angel.  It was so close within his reach he could almost touch it with his fingertips.  That's when he felt it, a gush of wind right underneath him.  With a single blink of an eye, he was back to the top, his feet on solid ground.  He looked up and saw the open door of the elevator shaft with no elevator and breathed out a sigh of relief.  He was ALIVE!

Then everything had gone pitch dark, and when it was bright again, he was out in the middle of the desert.  Slowly he turned to look back, wondering what was going on, and all he could see behind him was the huge quicksand that had been in front of him just mere moments ago. _'What in the world?! What's going on?!'_ he thought in complete and utter confusion.

"You've succeeded in passing the obstacle of this quicksand," came the same voice that only seemed to irritate Mondo further.  Mondo turned around and saw the little boy just mere inches away from him.  Immediately he charged towards the boy trying to get his hands around the boy's tiny neck and strangle the life out of him.  But his hands only ran through the boy.  

"What the…" thought Mondo out loud, what was going on.  Was this boy even real?

"I don't have a physical body, this is just an illusion of my prier body before IT happened…" said the boy softly, his tone a bit shaky as if unsure if he should reveal anything or not. 

"Before what happened…?" asked Mondo in an extremely soft voice, it could barely be heard.

The boy only looked away from Mondo, his gaze cast down onto the ground below him.  His body shifting from a translucent look to an opaque one.  Slowly his body resembled how it had been before and his eyes lost its trance look as he turned back to look at Mondo.  

"You'll find out soon enough, on your own.  For now, all I can say is to move on and don't look behind you no matter what you may meet up to during your up coming journey," he finally managed to answer.

"I don't understand…" 

"You don't have to, not now.  Come, let's head for that village over there and rest for the night.  There is much you must do the day after."  The boy slowly began to walk toward that direction, leaving Mondo behind to follow.

"What's…. what's your name…?" asked Mondo.  He at least wanted to find out who this boy was, this boy with the mysterious past.

"I no longer have a name, you may call me whatever you wish," came a soft reply.

"What was your name before then…?" asked Mondo unsurely.  He could not help but feel a little uncomfortable.

"You may call me Sai," came the final reply after a couple moments of silence.  Mondo could only nod to this.

Finally they had reached the village, but it too looked almost as badly ruined.  "What happened here…?" thought Mondo out loud as he looked around.  It was almost barren.  There were only a couple people around, just enough to count through your fingers.

"This place used to be one of the most beautiful places in Mon World, but no longer.  You see what THEY have done to this place…?" sighed Sai in grief.  There were just no words that could describe how the place had looked.

Suddenly Sai ran over to the broken fountain in the middle of the town, and stared down into the now empty fountain.  He closed his eyes and slowly put his hands together, murmuring some words under his breath, and suddenly the fountain looked as if it were brand new, water was pouring down endlessly from the two beautiful mermaids who where back to back, holding onto a single jar each.  The remaining people in the town immediately ran toward the fountain and began to drink the water as if it would be their last chance to do so.  When all had finally filled their bellies until they were big and round, they walked back to where they had been just moments ago.  

Sai motioned for Mondo to come towards the fountain, but when Mondo couldn't move, Sai raised his finger and moved Mondo towards him.  Mondo was floating in the air.  Once Mondo was placed next to the fountain, Sai pointed into the water and told him to look into it.

"Now, look carefully in the water, and tell me what you see," he said.

"I see my own reflection," answered Mondo calmly, unsure why Sai would ask such a question.

"No, look carefully.  Look closer.  Do not look at the water, but within in, from your heart.  And tell me, what do you see…?" he explained more carefully.

Mondo squinted his eyes, trying to do as Sai had told him to, though not knowing why he would even be listening to such a child.  Suddenly the water seemed to be changing colours, and an image seemed to form in the liquid.  Mondo squinted harder, hoping it would help clear up the blurred image.  That's when he saw it. It was her.

Mondo's eyes widened.  His mouth a gaped, but no words came out.

She was running through a forest, branches and twigs scrapped against her arms as she continued to run.  Her breath came short and shallow, she was beginning to tire but she continued to run as the scraps became more severe.  Suddenly there was a dark shadow that struck her and she immediately stopped moving as if paralyzed.  Then she dropped to the ground, unable to move.  

"Rockna!" he yelled, and suddenly the image faded away and turned back to nothing but water.  "Where… where did she go?!" he yelled as he turned to Sai.  But Sai only had a saddened look on his face as if he knew what was going to happen.

"What is it…?" he asked, half scared of what was going to happen and half full of worry.

"I wanted to allow you the chance to see her, but though you can see her, you won't know where she is.  The only way for you to reach her again is to find her, but for now, all you can do is simply watch…" he explained softly.

Mondo didn't know which was better, to have to see her suffer and unable to do anything about it… or to not know her existence at all, not to know where she was.  Perhaps he could've imaged that she was all right, but now he couldn't.  He just had to find her, and fast! 

"Where is she?!" asked Mondo.

"I wouldn't know," came his reply. 

"How could you NOT know?!" Mondo asked in fury.

Sai only stayed silent.  There was nothing he could do in a situation like this.  Slowly Mondo sunk to the ground, his hand pounded against the ground in anger while the other hand held onto his weight.  He slowly grabbed his sword from his back, and took out the sphere from its place, and slowly placing his sword back onto his back.  He stared into the sphere.

"Show me… show me a way to protect her…" he whispered lightly.  "Let me protect her… let me watch over her…"

A light glow came from the sphere as an image of Rockna appeared again.  She was lying on a metal floor, motionlessly.  A glass wall was surrounding her.  Then there was an image outside the glass walls, and it showed the way out of the place and towards the outside.  Viewing it from the sky.  It was next to an ocean and a forest.  Then the image faded away.

"I know where she is," he whispered slowly.  "I need to find a way to get there…"

He ran towards the nearest person and knelt down on the ground in front of the old man.  

"Mister, please… could you tell me a way to get to the East side ocean?  By the Dark temple of Avalon forest?" he asked the man.

The man's complexion was suddenly drained of its colour.  "But boy… why would you even want to go there…?" he asked, his mouth suddenly becoming dry.

"There's someone I care about, very much, that's over there.  I need to find this person," Mondo answered simply.  Not frightened by the fact that he was going to go to one of the most dangerous parts of Mon World.

The man sighed a weary sigh.  "I then suggest you hurry there and take the route through this town and when you reach a cross road, take the road less traveled by.  It should bring you closer to your destination.  But beware, because there are many beasts hidden in its darkness.  There is one safe way to get through the forest, you must take that trail and find your way up to the mountain trail.  There you must stay there for one night and during that night, you must capture the Unicorn.  Not just any unicorn, but a very strong and powerful one, by the name of Helios.  He comes to the mountain to get a drink of the pure water that flows down the mountain every once a full moon.  Tomorrow night is the night of that full moon, you must hurry," he finished.

"Thank you," whispered Mondo gratefully as he got up from the ground and immediately ran through the town as quickly as he could.  The moon was already out now, and it only gave him less than one day to reach that mountainside.  Time was running out.

_____________________________________________________________

Thanks everyone for reading through this entire story so far, though it must've been extremely confusing and weird at times.  Sorry about that.  But anyway, I hope you all enjoyed it so far and this all met your expectations.  Again, I'm sorry I didn't update this sooner!  I got get to my homework now, later!

**PREVIEW OF THE NEXT CHAPTER:**

The prowler of the night had finally shown up, standing between Mondo and his only way up to the mountainside.  In the distance, the full moon was slowly rising up into the sky.  "Shit…" he hissed between his teeth.


End file.
